Blaze threatens Durango West II home

Firefighters with Durango Fire & Rescue Authority help douse embers at a residence on Pine Ridge Loop in Durango West II that caught fire Monday morning. Capt. Jim Anderson said the woman who reported the fire was able to put it out mostly with a garden hose. No significant structural damage occurred, but a wall and outside bushes were burned. An investigator later in the day confirmed the fire began after the residents, who are moving, cleaned out their fireplace and put the ashes next to the house near the bushes. “Hot coals insulated within their ashes can remain hot for long periods of time, three weeks or more,” Anderson said.

JOSH STEPHENSON/Durango Herald

Firefighters with Durango Fire & Rescue Authority help douse embers at a residence on Pine Ridge Loop in Durango West II that caught fire Monday morning. Capt. Jim Anderson said the woman who reported the fire was able to put it out mostly with a garden hose. No significant structural damage occurred, but a wall and outside bushes were burned. An investigator later in the day confirmed the fire began after the residents, who are moving, cleaned out their fireplace and put the ashes next to the house near the bushes. “Hot coals insulated within their ashes can remain hot for long periods of time, three weeks or more,” Anderson said.